10 Things I Like About Living in Dumaguete, Philippines

I’ve lived in Asia for four years, but just recently relocated to the small coastal city of Dumaguete, located on the Island of Negros in the central Visayan region of the Philippines. Known as “ The City of Gentle People,” Dumaguete is home to about 120,000 residents but manages to feel like a much smaller town.

​While every place has its pros and cons, I find Dumaguete to be one of the more enjoyable, healthy, and well-balanced places I’ve lived anywhere in the world – although I will highlight the two most dangerous things about living here at the end of this blog.

Here are 10 things I like about my new home, “Duma”:

1. NatureThere are plenty of scenic parks, gardens, palm groves, and rural dirt roads right within Dumaguete, but even a few kilometers outside of town, the natural beauty is enchanting. The province (Negros Oriental) and big island (Negros) are lush and green, with sugar cane fields and pineapple groves in abundance.

All within an hour easy travel you’ll find Apo Island, a world-renowned marine paradise, breathtaking Manjuyod Sandbar which they call the Maldives of the Philippines, Casaroro and Pulangbato waterfalls, Twin Lakes, and plenty of scenic mountains like Mount Talinis.

You can also hop a ferry to Sijiour Island, known for its white sand beaches, waterfalls and reputation as being haunted, or take a 20-minute boat ride over to the island of Cebu and experience swimming with whale sharks in Oslob.

Dumaguete doesn’t have a nice beach with white sand, but right outside of town there are plenty of chill little resorts with clean beaches that have darker (volcanic) sand, like in Dauin.

2. CommunityThe center of Dumaguete community life is Rizal Boulevard (named after national hero Dr. Jose Rizal), a bricked plaza and tree-lined strip that runs right along the seawall. Locals, expats, and tourists congregate there day and night, exercising in the morning, sitting with friends to watch the ships when it cools down late afternoon, or just sitting at one of the many resto-bars and cafes, watching the world go by with a cold beer or a coffee.A short walk away you'll find nicely-maintained Quezon Park and the belfry, built in 1811 as a lookout above St Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral. Only a few blocks away is a public market complex that’s always bustling and fun to visit.Around Dumaguete, you’ll notice the contributions of civic groups like Rotary, Kiwanis, and clean-ups, events and charitable work organized by the many schools, churches, and local barangays (neighborhoods).All of this contributes to the palpable sense of pride and close-knit vibe that centers life in Dumaguete.​

3. InexpensiveLife in the Philippines isn’t as cheap as you may think, and definitely more expensive than living in Thailand, Cambodia, or Vietnam. But it’s pretty damn inexpensive to live in Dumaguete, where rent may be $200 a month USD or even less. (I pay the “ridiculously expensive” sum of $420 a month for one of only three apartments in the city that have a pool).

Trike rides around town only cost 10 Pesos (about 20 cents USD), and you can go out to a good restaurant for a burger, a couple of beers, and leave a tip for $10 USD or less, while meals at a local restaurant will only set you back $2-$3 or less. Your only big bill will be electricity if you live here and run your air conditioning a lot, adding up to about $50-$100 USD per month.

In all, it’s still one of the few places in the world where you can realistically live or retire in paradise for less than $1,500 every month.​

4. AirportWithout a nearby airport, you're really isolated in most of the Philippines, counting on half-day bus rides and sea-sick ferry excursions to get you to the next city. So one of the most practical things about Dumaguete is the airport right in the city – an 8-minute trike (motorcycle with sidecar for passengers) ride from my apartment. There are only a few flights a day to Cebu or Manila, but it's a charming island airport, You can show up 45 minutes before your flight and still have plenty of time, listening to a trio of blind guitar players perform as you wait.

Even better, I like to check in to get my boarding pass and then go right back outside, waiting at The Finish Line resto-bar with a cold beer, good wi-fi, friendly staff, and a video screen that shows me when my plane is landing.

They're building a bigger international airport out of town that's supposed to be ready by 2025, but for now, I like the charming Dumaguete airfield. ​

5. Just big enoughDumaguete has an abundance of restaurants, coffee shops, and things to do, including a local mall (Lee Plaza) and the modern Robinson Mall where you can catch a movie, buy something at their department store, or just people watch and enjoy the air conditioning.

Adequate medical care is always a concern for expats and retirees, but Dumaguete houses a big medical center affiliated with Silliman University as well as a new hospital under construction.

Even more important (for me), the Wi-Fi connection is consistent and good, something that’s hard to come by outside major cities in the Philippines.

During the day, an estimated 400,000 people come in and out of Dumaguete to work, study and do business. Thanks to its low cost, a large population of young, educated grads, and the fact that almost everyone speaks English (Cebuano, usually called "Bisaya,” is the local language), the BPO and IT industries are growing fast.​

6. But still small enoughDespite these modern conveniences and more people moving here every year, Dumaguete has retained its island vibe. I’ve found that people in Dumaguete are genuinely friendly, smiling, and open to having pleasant chats.

Unlike the hustling stress of Manila or inherent indifference of Cebu City, people are still super chill and take it slow in Duma. There’s never a big rush, and even the 5 o’clock traffic jams in downtown are civil and sort of charming!

Be prepared that Dumaguete is quiet at night and definitely not a party place. There are only a couple of proper bars (like the infamous Why Not) or small clubs in town, but you'll never lack for a place to gather with friends, enjoying a few beers and even catching some great live music.​

7. HealthOne of my favorite things about life in Dumaguete is how healthy life can be. Immersed in and around so much natural beauty, it’s easy to enjoy sports, recreation, and a low-stress, healthy life. Unlike the heart-attack diet you’ll find in many parts of the Philippines, Dumaguete has plenty of local fruit, enough vegetables and fresh-caught fish and seafood filling its restaurants, public markets, and farmers stalls.

When it comes to exercise, there's an abundance of small gyms scattered around town (my favorite is the tucked-away Clint Besario MMA Training Center), or an Olympic pool, track, and other facilities at the Lamberto Macias Sports & Cultural Complex. Filipinos revere basketball so there are courts and hoops everywhere, but you'll also find soccer, Ultimate Frisbee, and a surprising amount of baseball played in Dumaguete. The country roads that rise into the mountains are a dream for cyclists and hikers, and the Rizal Blvd. quay is filled with joggers every morning and Zumba groups in the evening. In all, there's so much to do in Dumaguete to keep you fit and healthy, it's no wonder why people go to bed early every night!

8. Silliman University and other collegesDumaguete is a surprisingly vibrant academic hub with an estimated 30,000 university students studying there at any given time, earning the city the moniker, "Center of learning in the South." The city is home to the seaside campus of Silliman University, established in 1901 and one of the oldest in the Philippines, as well as St. Paul University (1904), Negros Oriental State University (1907), Foundation University (1949), the Dumaguete Academy for Culinary Arts, and several others. These institutions bring an influx of students, teachers, speakers, workshops and events, invigorating the culture of the town. ​

9. Tourism and expatsA little tourism is good for the town, but growth is a slippery slope, as a place can lose its soul to tourism, like what's happened to Boracay (and might happen to El Nido soon). Dumaguete does receive a steady stream of tourists who want to scuba dive and island hop, but they aren't overrunning the town and a good portion are Filipinos traveling within their own country.

While no one knows for sure how many foreigners and expats live in Dumaguete, we do know that the area is growing fast, thanks to a sterling reputation and a Forbes Magazine article listing it as one of the "7 Best Places to Retire Around the World". While some tourism and expats are good for the economy and diversity, we also don’t want to see Dumaguete overtaken with foreigners. But the good thing is that people who live here tend to spread out over time, moving up to the smaller town of Valencia in the foothills or other quieter communities along the coast.​

10. ​Clean and safeYou’ll always find a different standard of litter, trash management and pollution in developing countries, but I find Dumaguete to be much cleaner and environmentally conscious than many other places in the Philippines. The streets are a little bit wider and better maintained; you'll see more flowers, gardens, and greenery; people litter less and sweep up more, and the clean country air is refreshing (when they're not burning the fields). My apartment is just a short bicycle ride away from downtown, but it feels like I'm out in the province, with roosters, goats, cows, and plenty of picturesque country roads.

Dumaguete is also very safe. Although I don’t have official statistics, I walk and bicycle everywhere, even at night, and I’ve never had a problem. Even in the crowded public market or downtown, it feels very safe without concern for your phone or wallet at all times, and violent crime is virtually nonexistent.

But if you’re a foreigner moving to Dumaguete, there are two hazards to watch out for: be very cautious when navigating the chaotic roads, but the small-town rumor mill (called “chisme," or gossip), will provide most dangerous!

***Do you have any more questions about living or traveling in Dumaguete, the Philippines, or abroad? Hit me!

1. There are presently 313 locations of In-N-Out Burger in existence, most of which sit in California, the food chain’s home state. But there are also locations in Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Texas and Oregon.

2. There are four In-N-Out Burger locations in Sacramento and 18 in total among Sacramento, Placer, Yuba, and El Dorado counties.

3. In-N-Out Burger was founded in 1948 when newlyweds Harry and Esther Snyder opened the first location.

4. Harry Snyder was a huge fan of drag racing and once bought 50% of the Irwindale Raceway just so that he could serve In-N-Out at their concession stand.

5. The Snyders always had their sons, Guy and Rich, do entry-level work prepping, doing dishes, and taking out the trash when they worked at the family chain.

6. After founder Harry Snyder passed away in the 1980s, his son, Rich Snyder, a devout born-again Christian, started printing Bible verses on the bottom of In-N-Out cups and wrappers, although the company has never released a formal statement on the matter.

7. That humility and work ethic was passed down to Lynsi Torres, heiress to the In-N-Out franchise fortune when she turns 35, which will instantly launch her into the $500 million-plus income bracket.

8. Back in 1948, the first In-N-Out location featured a groundbreaking (at the time) drive up lane for cars, the precursor to our modern drive-up window.

9. In fact, In-N-Out was the first chain to install two-way speaker systems in their car drive up lanes, as before that, “carhops” came out to take orders and deliver food.

10. The intercom and drive-up lanes revolutionized the burger business, allowing customers to "get in and out" quickly, hence the name.

11. However, it wasn't the first, as Red's Giant Hamburg in Missouri had implanted a drive up window the year before. But when Red's closed in 1984, In-N-Out became the oldest drive-through burger joint in the country.

12. The chain didn’t expand outside of California until the 1990s, when it put their first non-California location in Las Vegas, Nevada.

13. Most In-N-Out locations have a pair of crossing palm trees planted out front. That signature landscaping was an inspiration from the movie "It's a Mad, Mad World," in which treasure is buried beneath palm trees in the shape of a W. Owner Harry Snyder wanted to mark each of his restaurants as its own treasure, so he opted for two crossed palms in front.

14. Known for it’s creative and sometimes secretive menu options, the first “animal style” hamburger was introduced in 1961.

15. But after that, few changes were made to the menu even as the decades rolled on. In fact, the only two changes since 1996 include sweet tea in a few Texas locations recently, and the addition of Dr. Pepper in 1996.

16. Since their inception, In-N-Out’s philosophy has been to “serve only the highest quality product, prepare it in a clean and sparkling environment, and serve it in a warm and friendly manner.”

17. In fact, In-N-Out's food is never frozen or pre-packaged, making it a far cry from typical fast food and endearing the pallets of loyal patrons.

18. They make every hamburger patty at their own facilities and ship them fresh to stores daily. According to In-N-Out Burger policy, no food product can ever travel more than 500 miles from a production facility to a restaurant location.

19. For that reason, there are no In-N-Out Burger chains in the East Coast, much to the chagrin of hungry would-be customers. But that didn’t stop a magazine from pranking New Yorkers in 2010 on April Fool's Day when it announced that the hamburger chain was opening in Manhattan.

20. In-N-Out makes a significant investment in hiring, training, and keeping the best employees in the business. In fact, there’s an In-N-Out University where new managers are trained diligently.

21. With each manager making at least $100,000 a year and even starting employees earn a competitive living wage, it’s no wonder why In-N-Out has the lowest turnover rate of any burger or fast food chain, with managers serving an average tenure of 14 years.

22. Other than buying a tasty lunch, you can buy In-N-Out swag like hats, t-shirts, pajamas, tracksuits, and even custom Uggs on their website, in-n-out.com

23. Enough with the chit-chat, let's get down to the facts about the secret In-N-Out menu! Not listed on the regular menu and the stuff of Cali lore, you can order options like a side of pre-packaged yellow chilies, root beer floats, bun doughnuts, pepperoncinis on your burger, and a "Monkey Style" burger that has animal style fries on top of a burger patty.

24. Although the company denies it’s a secret, there are a host of expanded menu options that many people don’t realize. For instance, burgers come cooked medium-well as the standard, but you can order your burger cooked the way you like it, including medium rare – a testament to the quality of their meat.

25. On the alleged “top secret” menu, there are also seven different ways you can order French fries: fries light, fries well done, fries light well, fries no salt, fries with special sauce, fries with cheese and fries with grilled onions.

26. For vegetarians, the grilled cheese or veggie burger are big hits, and one of the most popular off-menu treats is the Neopolitan Shake, blending strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate ice cream into one shake.

27. Not long ago, there was one remarkable option on the secret menu where you could order any combination of meat plus cheese, detailed in a numeric format like 4x4, (four patties and four slices of cheese).

28. That all changed when some rowdy customers in Las Vegas ordered a 100x100 option (100 burger patties and 100 slices of cheese!). Needless to say, they were politely refused, and In-N-Out instituted a max 4 x 4 policy after that.

30. Hollywood celeb Paris Hilton once was arrested for drunk driving on her way to In-N-Out Burger for a late night after-party snack. She tried to justify her DUI to Ryan Seacrest by explaining, “I was just really hungry and I wanted to have an In-N-Out burger!"

***I originally wrote and posted this blog for The Alfano Group real estate agency in Sacramento, California.

Are you studying a new language? Learning to paint or play the piano? Or are you hitting the books for a new certification at work? Would you love to recall people's names without fail? No matter who you are or what you do, your ability to retain and recall information plays a pivotal role in your day-to-day life.

Our senses are continually taking in stimuli in the present moment, but other than that momentary snapshot of our surroundings, our conscious lives are really only memories. With more than one billion neurons in the human brain forming trillions of connections, our brains are always creating new memories and accessing old ones. In fact, scientific research shows that the human brain initiates its first memories from the womb, at only 20 weeks after conception.

Believe it or not, when it comes to personal development, nothing is more important than memory. If you're looking to break through and finally achieve your goals, how you retain and process positive and negative memories about your life and past experiences is also critical.

Here are 12 unforgettable facts about the human memory:

1. Scientists have discovered that the storage capacity of the human brain is almost limitless. Paul Reber, a Professor of Psychology at Northwestern University calculated that your memory could store about 2.5 PETABYTES of data, which is 2,500,000 Gigabytes, or 300 years worth of television shows!

2. So why do we forget so much information, like street addresses, phone numbers, and our coworker's names on a daily basis? Research points to the fact that information is never really lost from our memory, just shuffled to the back like documents forgotten in a filing cabinet, and only when we strengthen or reinforce the connections between neurons in the brain will the information come back to us.

3. We also appear to forget things because out short term – or "working" memory - can only handle a few items at a time. In fact, research shows most people can only recall 4-9 units of information at a time in the short term! However, with training, we can learn to recall more by breaking things into chunks, which is the reason why you use the cadence 1-2-3….4-5-6…7-8…9-10, when you're trying to remember someone's phone number.

4. Since our short term memories are so limited, it's also usually ineffective to cram for a test the night before. In fact, research into the effects of sleep on short-term memory shows that you'd probably be better off getting a few extra hours of ZZZs instead of cramming!

5. Regardless of what you may think you feel like after a cup of coffee, caffeine doesn't improve your memory, it only makes your brain more alert.

6. The average adult has the memory capacity to learn and maintain a vocabulary of 20,000 to 100,000 words. (There are 171,476 words in current use in the English language according to the Oxford Dictionary.)

7. Have you ever smelled pine trees and instantly thought of great times at your childhood summer camp, or sniffed a cologne/perfume and instantly missed your ex? Smell is an incredibly powerful memory trigger, perhaps more so than any of your senses. Aside from easily triggering a trip down memory lane, the olfactory nerve is located near the amygdala, the part of the brain that processes the experience of emotion as memory.

8. Have you ever tried to remember something REALLY hard? Did it help? Research points to that it probably did, as the more you concentrate on recalling information, the more likely you are to remember it accurately since thinking about it creates a stronger connection between the neurons in your brain.

9. Therefore, memory can also be exercised and practiced to improve, just like any other muscle or skill. A 2005 article in The Monitor on Psychology summarized the massive amounts of memory enhancement research, pointing out that techniques like "taking a mental picture," taking mental notes, using memorization techniques like rhymes, mnemonic devices, and other strategies can aid day-to-day memory. For instance, we're more likely to remember something if we first registered it in an unconventional or out-of-the-norm manner.

10. The concept of "false memories" is very real. Scientists have discovered that our brains can create memories that are just as real as those from authentic experiences. We also exaggerate, distort, and change memories we have about real events, especially as time passes. This is especially true of memories of particularly significant or traumatic experiences. The prevalence of false memories in the human mind has some serious implications, such as testifying against someone in a criminal trial, making accusations about something that happened in childhood, etc. In fact, in one study, researchers were able to convince 70% of the participants that THEY had committed a crime when, of course. they hadn't!

11. With aging comes the inevitable loss of memory and brain power, including degenerative brain diseases like Alzheimer's, right? Not necessarily, as new research is finding some paradoxical but also encouraging evidence about memory and old age.

While memory loss and Alzheimer's does occur in many seniors, the loss of memory as we get along in years may not be inevitable. Studies have shown that some subjects in their 70s performed on cognitive tests just as good as those in their 20s, and some of their memory functions even improved with age!

A good part of what dictates our brain health and function as we age may have to do with genetics, which can't be changed. But we also tend to lose memory when we get old because we use and exercise our brain less. Research shows that continuing to learn, think, discover new things, and stay intellectually engaged all help strengthen your brain – including information retention.

12. We may think of our brains as a unchangeable command center, but, in fact, our brain structure changes physically when we learn something new. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) maps of our brain patterns reveal that blood flow increases in certain parts of the brain when we take in new information, as well as long-term structural alterations in white and gray brain matter.

***Look for part two of this blog with more interesting facts about human memory – including the best techniques to learn and retain just about any information!

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Norm Schriever

Norm Schriever is a best-selling author, expat, cultural mad scientist, and enemy of the comfort zone. He travels the globe, telling the stories of the people he finds, and hopes to make the world a little bit better place with his words.

Norm is a professional blogger, digital marketer for smart brands around the world, and writes for the Huffington Post, Hotels.com, and others.